Political commentary from the LA Times

Happy Holidays! Here's a gift certificate for an abortion

December 2, 2008 | 4:44
am

Here's an original holiday gift idea to help the person who may have everything, including a little something they don't really want. A new way to mark the festive yearend celebration of life -- a gift certificate for an abortion.

This year, for the first time, Planned Parenthood of Indiana is offering holiday gift certificates for that certain someone in your life who may want a breast exam, a pap smear or perhaps not want another life in their life.

Calling them an "unusual yet practical gift this holiday season," the organization is selling gift certificates in $25 denominations, redeemable at any of the group's 35 statewide locations for their services, including health screenings, birth control and abortion services.

"People are making really tough decisions about putting gas in their car and food on their table, so we know that many women especially put healthcare at their bottom of their list to do."

The official explained the group offers a range of services that can be purchased with the gift cards including pap smears, breast exams, birth control prescriptions and abortions. The organization performs about 5,000 abortions a year, according to one published figure, out of 92,000 patients treated.

It has taken a few days for antiabortion groups to move beyond disbelief and begin commenting on the Christmas holiday sales item. "It is difficult to think of a more tasteless, ghoulish thing to give anyone," wrote one blogger.

"Christmas," said Jim Sedlak of the American Life League, "perhaps more than any other time of the year, is dedicated to the miracle of life and divine love." He said the gift cards "would be more accurately described as death certificates."

Officials of Planned Parenthood, which operates abortion clinics in Indianapolis, Merrillville and Bloomington, stress the health and pregnancy prevention part of their services.

But Fichter is unpersuaded. "The tragedy is that almost 6,000 fewer children will be celebrating a first Christmas this year," he said, "because they were aborted in Planned Parenthood's Indiana clinics."